Music Review: Macklemore & Ray Dalton "Can't Hold Us"
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Macklemore & Ray Dalton
Can’t Hold Us
Album: The Heist
Year: 2011
Macklemore defends his fame in the prideful “Can’t Hold Us.”
A zingy piano and thumping drum open the single, setting an undaunted tone. In the intro, he gets everyone pumped up for the single. (“Ay, ay, ay/Good to see you, come on in, let's go/Yeah, let's go/Alright, alright/OK, uh, alright, OK/Alright, OK.”)
Macklemore thinks believes people should motivate themselves. He references his single “Thrift Shop” and says the success of it hasn’t changed him. He’s modest, knowing fame is fleeting. He says he’s a hardworker and is competitive. However, at the end of the day, he looks out for other people. It’s who he is. While they will be other imitators releasing their singles, they won’t have his natural down-to-earth personality. He states he’s a credible musician. Some of his friends have even been in Broadway musicals. Like him, they followed their own unique path and were able to be true to themselves. He grew up loving music. He’s passionate about every lyric and gives his all to each song. However, he has stage persona he needs to nurture and tries to learn what he can from other people. He mentors those who want to be a socially conscious rappers like him. Since he was a young teenager going to school on the bus and listening to music to pass the time, he has wanted to be a rapper. (“Return of the Mack, get up!/What it is, what it does, what it is, what it isn’t/Looking for a better way to get up out of bed/Instead of getting on the Internet and checking a new hit me/Get up! Thrift shop, pimp strut walking, little bit of humble, little bit of cautious/Somewhere between like Rocky and Cosby. Sweater gang, nope, nope y’all can’t copy/Yup. Bad, moon walking, this here, is our party, my posse's been on Broadway/And we did it, our way/Grown music, I shed my skin and put my bones into everything I record to it/And yet I’m on/Let that stage light go and/shine on down, got that Bob Barker suit game and plinko in my style/Money, stay on my craft and stick around for those pounds/But I do that to pass the torch and put on for my town/Trust me. On my I-N-D-E-P-E-N-D-E-N-T shit hustler/Chasing dreams since I was 14 with the four track bussing halfway cross that city with the backpack, fat cat, crushing.”)
In the pre-chorus, he’s met with record labels. They wanted to turn him into an Enimen clone. He would shake their hands, thank them for the meeting and then schedule a local show in his city. He wants to be a rapper people can respect and not see on their local television news being led into a courtroom in handcuffs. He wants to change the genre. (“Labels out here/Now they can’t tell me nothing/We give that to the people/Spread it across the country/Labels out here/Now they can’t tell me nothing/We give it to the people/Spread it across the country.”)
In the chorus, sung by Ray Dalton, he says now is the time to make rap positive again. They way people can do that is by supporting his music and demanding for other rappers to end the violence in their own songs. (“Here we go back, this is the moment/Tonight is the night, we’ll fight 'til it’s over/So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us/Like the ceiling can’t hold us/Here we go back, this is the moment/Tonight is the night, we’ll fight 'til it’s over/So we put our hands up like the ceiling can’t hold us/Like the ceiling can’t hold us.”)
He has seen other local rappers before perform with great material, never getting beyond the stages of their city. He realizes he’s lucky to have songs played on the radio and an album released around the world. As a kid, he listened to Wu-Tang Clan and wanted to be like them, including the gold front teeth. Criticism isn’t going to derail him. He has talent and the drive to back him up. He didn’t get into music to become famous. Hearing people rap along with him, knowing every word to his songs, is enough for him. He will always have his local fans. He’ll put his ego aside and find out what he can do to improve. (“Now, can I kick it? Thank you. Yeah I'm so damn grateful/I grew up, really wanted gold fronts/But that’s what you get when Wu tang raised you/Y’all can’t stop me, go hard like I got an 808 in my heart beat/And I’m eating at the beat like you gave a little speed to a great white shark on shark week/Raw. Tell me go up. Gone!/
Deuces goodbye. I got a world to see, and my girl she wanna see Rome/Caesar make you a believer. Now I never ever did it for a throne./That validation comes from giving it back to the people. Now sing a song and it goes like/Raise those hands, this is our party/We came here to live life like nobody was watching/
I got my city right behind me/If I fall, they got me/Learn from that failure gain humility and then we keep marching ourselves.”)
The chorus is sung again.
In the bridge, he asks people to listen to him (“I saw we put our hands up/I saw we put our hands up/Let's go!/Na na na na na na na na/And all my people say/Na na na na na na na na/Ma-ckle-more!/Na na na na na na na na/And all my people say/Na na na na na na na na/Ma-ckle-more/ Na na na na na na na na/And all my people say/Na na na na na na na na/Ma-ckle-more.”)
The chorus is sung again to end the single.
Macklemore’s agile, juiced up vocals spitting out words in giant blobs. He does have a point: the rap genre does have to change. But it’s changing on its own. Currently, rap is not trending. It’s dance. He notes that he’s different. However, he’s still talks about himself and how he remembers where he came from. So does Pitbull and every other rapper in the mainstream.
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Dalton’s earnest, sanctimonious vocals take Macklemore’s words to heart, following them sight unseen until the soles of his feet reach the edge of the cliff, leading him to fall. He believes every word Macklemore is saying and is willing to save one rapper’s career.
The reaching “Can’t Hold Us” states a point but does nothing to solve it.